fredklein:Of course. Let's just ignore all the unusual things that happened in Boston today... like the national guard being deployed along the route, the bomb sniffing dogs that were at the finish line, and so on, just because you don't like the person pointing them out. 'I don't like you, thus you are lying. Boot to the headface!'. I'm so glad we have open-minded people like you around....

If the government was behind it, why would they deploy extra security? To stop themselves?

If the government wasn't behind it, but knew about it ahead of time, why wouldn't they tell everyone to be on alert? They've had no hesitation to do this with previous security scares. In fact, most conspiracy theorists would argue that the government goes out of its way to scare people over minor threats.

Or, maybe those are just common sights at big public events and you're a moron?

it's terrible, but how many mild mannered citizens got blowed up in Iraq last week?welcome to the brave new world.i'm lousy at this, how soon before it's o.k. to start crackin' wise?no, not trolling, just don't give a sh*t.

willfullyobscure:zippolight2002: like the national guard being deployed along the route, the bomb sniffing dogs that were at the finish line, and so on, just because you don't like the person pointing them out. 'I don't like you, thus you are lying. Boot to the headface!'. I'm so glad we have open-minded people like you around....Um, those are pretty standard practices now for any high-profile event. Bomb sniffing dogs went through freaking Bracket Town in Atlanta during the Final 4.

Too soon to point out that apparently the bomb dogs are not working out very well?

Into the blue again:My sister just called. Friends of hers were in the blast. Family of 4 waiting for their daughter to finish. 2 in surgery and 2 not stable enough for surgery. They aren't hopeful right now....

Into the blue again:My sister just called. Friends of hers were in the blast. Family of 4 waiting for their daughter to finish. 2 in surgery and 2 not stable enough for surgery. They aren't hopeful right now....

I used to run marathons - qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a big goal that we all aimed for. And people who qualified would bring along family to watch since it was a pretty big deal. To have someone target crowds of people like this ... I can't think of words to convey how sick I feel. Hollow.

The IRA does not, generally speaking, attempt to kill random civilians. It has happened in the past, but most attacks are at infrastructure, not people, and they call ahead to warn that people should be evacuated. When attacks are intentionally against people, they're normally against people who are perceived as occupying or otherwise working against the IRA and their goals. Random people in a marathon don't fit this profile.

This attack is the opposite of their MO, unless it was completely idiotic and poorly planned on their part.

Not true: the Harrods bomb, Enniskillen, the Corporation St. bomb in Manchester to name but a few. And not to mention all the trash cans which had to be removed from the streets of London because people kept planting bombs in them. But what they won't do is bite the hand that fed them; I'd be really surprised if this had anything to do with Irish terrorism.

HotIgneous Intruder:willfullyobscure: zippolight2002: like the national guard being deployed along the route, the bomb sniffing dogs that were at the finish line, and so on, just because you don't like the person pointing them out. 'I don't like you, thus you are lying. Boot to the headface!'. I'm so glad we have open-minded people like you around....Um, those are pretty standard practices now for any high-profile event. Bomb sniffing dogs went through freaking Bracket Town in Atlanta during the Final 4.

Too soon to point out that apparently the bomb dogs are not working out very well?

These dogs are Gen X.

Back in my day, dogs worked for a living! Puppies have it too easy these days, live with their parents and such.

Tillmaster:Actually, there are plenty of people in Boston who made contributions to the IRA, and I don't mean their retirement account.This is very similar to the Shenanigans that they committed in London.

HotIgneous Intruder:chard: NBC news apparently reporting that a suspect is in custody in one of the area hospitals.

Brown person no doubt.You watch.

I hope not. I don't look forward to the right-wing derp in my family and in the media if that's the case. If it's a white guy, at least the discussion can be constrained to the individual/group and the actual incident. If it's a brown guy, we go even further into the Muslim=terrorist crap.

Perhaps. I've never heard of bomb sniffing dogs at the finish line of a marathon before- what are they looking for? Runners who just ran 26 miles with a pipebomb in their shorts?? And why the National Guard? Doesn't Posse Comitatus apply? (ie: can't use military for police work?)

On the other hand, if they KNEW there were going to be bombs near the finish line- that would explain the sniffer dogs, and the NG. Of course, if they KNEW, why didn't they do/say anything??

This is how conspiracy theories get started.

Bomb dogs, wielding man hole covers shut and national guard at common at marathons in large cities. I've done Boston Marathon post 9/11 and seen national guard and bomb dogs.

ACunningPlan:Not true: the Harrods bomb, Enniskillen, the Corporation St. bomb in Manchester to name but a few. And not to mention all the trash cans which had to be removed from the streets of London because people kept planting bombs in them. But what they won't do is bite the hand that fed them; I'd be really surprised if this had anything to do with Irish terrorism.

Gyrfalcon:miss diminutive: netweavr: Looks like the area hit was reserved for survivors of Sandy Hook....

https://twitter.com/TimWilliamsCBS/status/323886061925314560

If that's true and they were deliberately targeted...

...I really don't want to finish that sentence.

I hope to holy f*ck that it isn't true. Because if it is, it narrows the suspect list drastically and to a very ugly subsection of Americans.

Oh damn. That's one hell of coincidence. The optimist in me is hoping that whoever put the bomb did so without knowledge of who would be there - that they wanted to cause destruction rather than targeted assassination.

/Still sticking with my initial estimate - small group of crazies with amateur level of skill in explosions, most likely domestic

willfullyobscure:HotIgneous Intruder: willfullyobscure: zippolight2002: like the national guard being deployed along the route, the bomb sniffing dogs that were at the finish line, and so on, just because you don't like the person pointing them out. 'I don't like you, thus you are lying. Boot to the headface!'. I'm so glad we have open-minded people like you around....Um, those are pretty standard practices now for any high-profile event. Bomb sniffing dogs went through freaking Bracket Town in Atlanta during the Final 4.

Too soon to point out that apparently the bomb dogs are not working out very well?

These dogs are Gen X.

Back in my day, dogs worked for a living! Puppies have it too easy these days, live with their parents and such.

People do realize, don't they, that "police dog" =/= "bomb dog", right? Just because there was a police dog there nosing over backpacks doesn't mean it was looking for explosives specifically. In a crowd this size, it's more likely they were there looking for drugs than explosives.

fredklein:Perhaps. I've never heard of bomb sniffing dogs at the finish line of a marathon before- what are they looking for? Runners who just ran 26 miles with a pipebomb in their shorts?? And why the National Guard? Doesn't Posse Comitatus apply? (ie: can't use military for police work?)

On the other hand, if they KNEW there were going to be bombs near the finish line- that would explain the sniffer dogs, and the NG. Of course, if they KNEW, why didn't they do/say anything??

The Boston Marathon is not just "AnyOld Marathon"... it's easily the biggest marathon in the world (as in most popular, I don't think it's necessarily the most runners attending). There's thousands upon thousands of spectators. Any even like that in a major city has police dogs. For example, the Washington Nationals home games have bomb sniffing dogs wandering around for EVERY GAME.

No idea why you're talking about Posse Comitatus. The Army can't be used for regular police work. But the National Guard is used ALL THE TIME for general crowd control, directing traffic, etc at large events.